In this Our Hen House interview, Mariann Sullivan sits down with Simone Scampoli, executive director of Capra Libera Tutti animal sanctuary near Rome, Italy, to explore how sanctuaries function as spaces of transformation. Simone shares the sanctuary’s origin story, its evolving relationship with a once-exploited mountain landscape, and the philosophy of consent and animal agency that shapes every visitor interaction — offering a powerful vision for how sanctuaries can reshape society’s relationship with animals.

• How Capra Libera Tutti began when a sheep farmer’s transformation led him to found a sanctuary near Rome in 2015
• Why sanctuaries serve as “movement infrastructure” — living spaces where multispecies community and animal agency become lived practice
• How the sanctuary reclaimed a mountain from the animal farming industry to give wildlife and rescued animals a natural habitat
• The role of consent and body language in teaching visitors, students, and schoolchildren to ethically interact with sanctuary animals
• How storytelling — both animal and human — helps educate the public and inspire the next generation of animal advocates

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Simone Scampoli is Vice President and Executive Director of Capra Libera Tutti. For years, he has worked to turn animal liberation activism into tangible change capable of engaging individuals, communities, and institutions. His approach brings together education, organizing, and strategy, drawing on the daily experience of Capra Libera Tutti: a place where animals’ stories expand the collective imagination and open up new possibilities for social and cultural transformation.

 

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Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

On this episode of The Hen Report, Mariann talks with recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate Ryan Blum about his solo, year-in-the-making undercover investigation into the campus’s Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery building, where he captured rare footage of pigs being stunned using CO2 gas chambers. Ryan breaks down how the process works, why it directly contradicts the university’s own claims that it’s “calm” and “humane,” and what he’s now doing — including a new on-campus awareness campaign — to push for the facility’s closure.

• A UW-Madison graduate secretly investigated his own university’s slaughterhouse, capturing rare footage of pigs being gassed with CO2 in an underground chamber
• The footage directly contradicts UW-Madison professors’ public claims that CO2 stunning is a “calm, relaxing, and humane” process
• CO2 concentrations used are so high (85-90%) that pigs visibly panic, gasping and reacting in pain before losing consciousness
• The investigator has since joined Allied Scholars for Animal Protection (ASAP) and launched a campus-wide poster and social media campaign to expose the facility

RESOURCES

• • • • • Ryan Blum’s Investigation
        • Allied Scholars for Animal Protection
        • March to Abolish Animal Testing
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of the Our Hen House Interview, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with performance researcher and theater maker Dr. Ben Hunt, founder of the Performing Animal Rights podcast and newsletter, to explore how theater, puppetry, drag, and creative practice can break through the psychological resistance that keeps people from engaging with animal rights. From vigils as unintentional theater to Watership Down, War Horse, and open rescue as performance, Ben unpacks how art can move audiences toward empathy — and where it still falls short.

• How street activism (vigils, open rescue) functions as a form of theater and performance
• Why creative works like Watership Down, War Horse, and Wicked resonate emotionally but often fail to connect audiences to real animal liberation
• The role of drag, puppetry, and mask work in helping people access “animality” and empathize with animals
• How fandom-driven activism (e.g., The Protego Foundation) turns fictional stories into real-world advocacy
• The ethical tension between using shock/disgust versus imagination and genuine intentionality in animal rights performance art

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Dr Ben Hunt is a performance researcher, theatre maker and animal advocate working at the intersection of creative practice, activism and human–animal relations. He is the founder and host of Performing Animal Rights, a podcast and newsletter exploring how theatre, performance and art can contribute to animal advocacy. His research examines how creative practice can challenge conventional representations of animals and help imagine more ethical interspecies relationships.

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Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

On this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan dig into a mix of movement news and reflection. They share encouraging data on the growth of plant-based product labeling and break down key legal wins in animal rights cases — including the Wayne Hsiung prosecution and the Meyenberg goat rescue case. The conversation turns to the environmental toll of animal agriculture on the Great Lakes’ water supply, and closes with a thoughtful discussion on movement infrastructure — why sanctuaries, podcasts, and community spaces support political strategy in sustaining long-term animal advocacy.

Key Topics:

• Vegan visibility goes viral — A casual YouTube chat sparked an invitation from The Financial Diet (1.3M subscribers) to debate vegan myths with a mainstream, non-vegan audience.
• Plant-based market growth — New data shows vegan and plant-based labels now appear on 40% of new snack launches, signaling optimistic momentum despite restaurant closure headlines.
• Animal rights legal wins — Updates on the Wayne Hsiung Sonoma County case and charges in the Mayenberg goat rescue case.
• Water, agriculture, and the Great Lakes — A look at how animal agriculture strains the Great Lakes’ fragile freshwater supply, with only 1% naturally replenished each year.
• Building movement infrastructure — Why sanctuaries, podcasts, and community spaces are essential to sustaining activists — and how the animal rights movement can stay big-tent even amid strategic and tactical disagreements.

RESOURCES

• • • • • The Hen Report Ep 974
        • Animal Law Podcast Ep 133
        • DXE on Instagram: VICTORY!
        • Ridglan rescue court case delayed to October 19
        • “Thank you, Rochester” Instagram post
        • How Agriculture and Data Centers Compete for the Great Lakes’ Most Precious Resource
        • Political Surprise in the Corn Belt
        • Soup Street
        • Veribark
        • WoofPet
        • Flockwork
        • March to Abolish Animal Testing
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

Turns out when food prices spike, the animal ag industry’s solution is just cheaper spin. This episode digs into the meat lobby’s sudden “affordability” crusade against animal welfare reforms, the bizarre pro-grazing propaganda tour, Trump’s confusing detour into meat processing policy, the BLM’s wild horse slaughter pipeline finally getting some overdue press, and the sneaky psychological reason your uncle still won’t try the vegan stuffing.

• Why the meat industry is blaming activists — not inflation — for pricier steaks
• The “grasslands need cows” argument, debunked in real time
• Trump’s meat-processing plan, translated from all caps into English
• Wild horses, slaughter pipelines, and why the BLM is only “shocked” now that the New York Times is watching
• The real reason nostalgia (not taste) keeps grandma’s brisket on the table

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

This month’s Animal Law Podcast features attorney Taj Uppal, who was arrested and charged with felony grand theft after rescuing two sick baby goats from Vera Goat Dairy, a California factory farm supplying Meyenberg Goat Milk to retailers like Whole Foods and Walmart. Uppal walks through the investigation that preceded the rescue, his arrest by Kings County Sheriff’s deputies, and the legal fight to get his felony charges reduced — including a stunning update recorded after the episode.

• Factory farm exposed: Drone and ground footage revealed an ongoing illegal “dead pile” of goat carcasses at Vera Goat Dairy, first cited by the California Water Board in 2021.
• The rescue and arrest: Uppal and fellow activists rescued two emaciated, sick baby goats in broad daylight before being arrested hours later during a peaceful protest outside the farm.
• The $950 felony threshold: California law caps petty theft at $950 — with the goats valued at just $150 each, Uppal’s defense argues the felony grand theft charge cannot legally stand.
• A body-cam bombshell: Leaked footage captures the arresting sergeant ordering a deputy to “make sure it’s a fucking felony,” raising serious questions about prosecutorial misconduct and a possible conflict of interest tied to the district attorney’s past ties to the farm’s owner.
• Faith, community, and hope: Uppal reflects on how his Sikh faith and its principle of oneness shape his animal advocacy, and what the movement could learn from tight-knit religious communities.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

 Taj Uppal is an attorney and organizer facing over six years in prison for rescuing factory-farmed animals.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on Apple Podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its fifteenth glorious year!

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer is joined by Marielle Vigneau-Britt of Totally Forkable to unpack a viral video from The Financial Diet’s Chelsea Fagan, who took aim at vegans while discussing consumerism in France versus the US. Together they dig into why comment sections don’t represent an entire community, how veganism keeps getting conflated with extreme “purity culture,” and why dairy addiction — not moral posturing — is often the real barrier keeping people from going vegan.

• Debunking the “preachy vegan” stereotype: Jasmin and Marielle challenge the popular narrative that vegans are uniquely judgmental online.
• Veganism vs. environmentalism: Why conflating plant-based eating with animal rights activism misses the point entirely.
• The parasocial influence of content creators: How millions of subscribers can amplify a misleading take on veganism and consumer culture.
• Confronting dairy addiction: An honest look at cheese cravings, and why “I can’t give up cheese” is more common than outright rejection of vegan values.
• Privilege, purity culture, and speciesism: Unpacking blind spots in progressive spaces when it comes to animal rights.

RESOURCES

• • • • • living in France makes me feel insane
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

The pork lobby thinks conferences make activists scary, the dairy industry wants everyone drinking more milk they didn’t ask for, and chicken gets a chlorine bath nobody has to disclose — welcome to another week of animal agriculture explaining itself to itself.

• Industry playbook, exposed by industry: A pork trade publication frets that animal rights groups are getting “sophisticated” at litigation and corporate pressure campaigns, which is their way of admitting it’s working.
• Cage-free report card: The Humane League grades food companies on decade-old cage-free egg pledges — some delivered, some quietly ghosted their promises.
• Got (too much) milk: Dairy production keeps climbing even as demand doesn’t, so the industry is manufacturing new demand instead via protein lattes, cold foam, and whole milk back in schools.
• What’s really in chicken: Chlorine and other antimicrobial treatments don’t have to appear on poultry labels,  a rare moment of a meat trade outlet asking whether that’s fair to consumers.
• Beef blames the weather: A beef-industry outlet claims climate and cattle-cycle timing are behind shortages, but that’s a little rich given the beef industry’s own hand in destabilizing that climate.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

This week on Our Hen House, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with longtime animal activist Jennifer Raymond — founder of Humboldt Critters Without Litters and author of The Peaceful Palette — to hear the harrowing, firsthand account of how she helped expose Miranda’s Rescue, a Humboldt County, California “rescue” that took in hundreds of shelter dogs each year while secretly killing and burying them on its property. Jennifer shares how years of suspicion, public records requests, and a covert nighttime dig ultimately led to a law enforcement raid, the recovery of over 100 dogs’ remains, and an ongoing multi-agency investigation involving the California Attorney General, the FBI, and the IRS.

• Miranda’s Rescue scandal: How a trusted Humboldt County “rescue” allegedly killed and buried hundreds of shelter dogs instead of finding them homes
• Whistleblower investigation: Jennifer Raymond’s years-long effort using public records requests, surveillance, and trail cameras to uncover the truth
• The midnight dig: The dramatic firsthand account of digging up dog remains and triggering a law enforcement raid
• Ongoing legal fallout: Civil suits, a potential class action, and investigations by the California AG, FBI, and IRS
• Systemic shelter reform: Why California’s lack of rescue oversight allowed this to happen — and Jennifer’s push for accessible spay/neuter funding to prevent future tragedies

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Jennifer Raymond is a longtime animal activist and founder of the Humboldt Spay & Neuter Network and Humboldt Critters Without Litters, organizations dedicated to making spay and neuter services accessible in Humboldt County, California. A vegetarian since her teens, she spent 25 years teaching plant-based nutrition and cooking — including alongside cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish — and authored the early vegan cookbook The Peaceful Palette, first published in the late 1980s. More recently, Jennifer became the whistleblower behind the exposure of Miranda’s Rescue, a Humboldt County animal rescue accused of killing and burying hundreds of dogs, and continues to advocate for stronger spay/neuter funding and shelter oversight across California.

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Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

This episode covers the Save Our Bacon Act getting shut down (again) in the Farm Bill, the delightfully weird strange-bedfellows saga around the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue, and the growing bipartisan side-eye toward animal testing — plus a Nonhuman Rights Project update and a preview of the next Animal Law Podcast episode.

• The pork industry tried (again) to torch state animal protection laws like California’s Prop 12 — and got shut out for the sixth time in nearly 20 years. We’re savoring this one.
• A juicy New Republic op-ed, How MAGA Stole Animal Rights from the Left, breaks down why Tomi Lahren and friends helped kill the bill, and dares Democrats to stop assuming animal lovers will vote blue no matter what.
• Over 2,000 beagles are finally out of cages after activists took on Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin breeding-and-research facility — and yes, RFK Jr. tried to take a victory lap.
• The Economist says the quiet part out loud: a bipartisan coalition is nudging the NIH, FDA, and EPA toward ditching animal testing for smarter, non-animal methods.
• Bonus round: Nonhuman Rights Project updates out of Michigan and Hawaii, a sneak peek at the Animal Law Podcast’s episode on activist Taj Uppal, and a heartfelt book rec, Penelope: A Love Story.

RESOURCES

• • • • • Vermont Law & Graduate School
        • Penelope: A Love Story
        • Animal protection triumphs in the Senate: ‘Save Our Bacon Act’ abandoned as Farm Bill stalls ahead of summer recess
        • How MAGA Stole Animal Rights from the Left
        • How a bipartisan coalition is taking aim at animal research
        • “KEY OUT”: When a Chimpanzee Asks to Be Free
        • The Animal Liberation Hour /// Episode 68 – Jasmin Singer
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.